Civilizations & archaeology

The Varna gold treasure is found

1972

In October 1972 a digger operator, Raycho Marinov, working near Lake Varna on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, struck gold. The cemetery, dating from about 4600 to 4200 BC, held nearly 300 graves and over 3,000 gold objects weighing six kilograms, including beads, bracelets, and appliques, as well as copper, flint and shell items. In one grave, a man lay with a golden sceptre and a gold-covered penis sheath. It is the oldest worked gold known in the world, and proves that a society with marked wealth differences and long-distance trade existed in south-eastern Europe 6,500 years ago.

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